Air conditioning and ventilation of houses



March 23, 1937.

w. c. COULTON 2,074,370

AIR CONDITIONING AND VENTILATION OF HOUSES Filed April 16, 1935 6 Sheets-fiheet l March 23, 1937. c. COULTON AIR CONDITIONING AND VENTILATION OF HOUSES 6 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed April 16, 1955 |l llllllllll l|l|||ll March 23, 1937.

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March 23, 1937. w, c, COULTON 2,074,370

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-Wzg March 23, 1937. w c. COULTON AIR CONDITIONING AND VENTILATION OF HOUSES Filed April 16, 1935 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 zdzz'zzzm acwzz March 23, 1937. w. c. COULTON' I AIR CONDITIONING AND VENTILATION OF HOUSES Filed April 16, 1935 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Mar. 23, 191 57 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,074,370 a AIR, CONDITIONING AND VENTILATION OF Y HOUSES William C. Coulton, Medford, Mass., assignor, by mesne assignments, of one-eighth to Albert A.

Stearns, Brooklyn, N. Y., and Benjamin Lichterman, New York, N. Y.

Application April 16, 1935, Serial No. 16,727 Claims. (01. 98-81) This invention relates to the air conditioning of buildings and has special reference to a method of and construction for air conditioning the air Within a building.

rial be exposed on face to moisture, such as may be obtained by the formation of dew or the impact of rain, the entire wall will become. damp. If a thin sheet of air be caused to flow over one 5 The invention .also relates to improvements in face of such a damp wall, the material will lose 5 the construction shown and described in my 00- moisture which will be absorbed by the flowing pending application for patent on Ventilation air. of houses, filed September 29, 1934, Serial No. A second important object of the invention is 746,193. to provide an improved method of insuring proper 0 In air conditioning there are two important moisture content in the air entering a building factors. These are the establishment and mainwhich consists in causing the air to flow over a tenance of a proper moisture content in the air large superficial area of damp masonry prior within a building and also the establishment and to entering the buildin maintenance of proper temperature in such air. It is a well known law that warm air expands The first of these factors is highly important and rises while cooler air contracts and falls. 15 since air deficient in moisture is not only inju- It is also a well known law that if relatively warm rious to furniture and the like by causing crackair flows over a relatively cool moist surface a ing of wood work, peeling of veneers and drying portion of the latent heat of the air will be, given out and loosening joints but is also injurious to ff in ffec n evaporation f the m re so the health of occupants of the building. Recently that the air will cool and tend to fall. If a wall many attempts have been made to insure proper be constructed with an air space between its outer moisture content in the air within a building by and inner sides and the wall of-one side of the air the employment of more or less elaborate masp e be at v y C001 and p, a d if r chinery to cause absorption of moisture from tively Warm air be admitted a One more Points some source in the air of a building or room, at the bottomof such wall, the admitted air will 25 Such machines not only have a high first cost w up from the Points Of admission/absorb but entail constant expense for power, water and s ur Sp laterally at the pp p O maintenance. An older means for the purpose the air space and fall. Also, if provision is made of supplying air with moisture was used in confor the constant admission of air at the lower nection with hot air heaters, the arrangement p s d pe for escape of air being -D being the placing of a pan of water in such posided abOVe the admission Point p the tlon that air either entering or leaving the heater admitted air Will-rise, absorb moisture d pe would flow over such water. -While this last hr u h h pp penin Thus, i such a w ll method was free from the objections connected be t Wa l Of a building a the admission p with the use of air conditioning machines, since ing Communicates With the Outer a301110891161"?! 35 no power or moving machinery was required, it while the upper openings open into the building, was inadequate to accomplish any satisfactory the outer air will, without the intervention of result since the area of the water surface was m n y. m lly w h h h ir necessarily so limited that little moisture would p become moist Vice Verse and flow into 40 be absorbed by the air flowing over the water. h u l n h r y nd nin h ai n the 40 One important object of the present invention building so far as moisture content is concerned. is to provide a novel building construction which A t d important Object of the invention is to in itself, without the use of any moving mechaconstruct an improved building witha hollow wall nism, efiects proper absorption of moisture in one of the confrontingfaces of which constitutes the air used within the building. an air moistener and to provide means whereby air 45 In this construction it is to be noted that such may'flow auto at ca y from he Outer etmOsbuilding materials as brick and .other unglazed phere through the space in said wall and into the 'clay products' stone, cement and the like have building thus forming in effect a chimney or flue. the property, through their porous nature, of In the cooler part of the year it is also necessary readily absorbing and holding a very considerthat the air within abuilding be kept warm as well 50 able weight of water in proportion to the weight, as moist.

of the material used. Also because of the man- A fourth important object of the invention is'to nor in which such material tends to retain its provide means whereby a portion of the air withinmoisture, such material takes along time to dry. the wall space may be withdrawn, heated and then returned to such air space to mix with the re- 55 If, now, a large relatively thin wall of such matemaining air in the space and thus warm it so that it may absorb moisture and be delivered to the building in awarm and moist condition.

In cold climates trouble is caused by the sweating or collection of frost; on the windows, this being due to the deposit of moisture from the air in the building and the freezing of the moisture on the glass.

A fifth object of the present invention is to cause the warm air entering the building to flow across the window while it is still warm so that the window glass will be kept warm and free from frost or sweating.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in general of a novel method of conditioning the air in a building and of means to effect such air conditioning consisting of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and specifically claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views, and:-

Figure 1 is the basement plan of a house constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 2 is a first floor plan thereof.

Figure 3 is a second floor plan thereof.

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detail section on the line 55 of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a detail section on the line 66 of Figure 1. a

Figure 7 is an enlarged typical vertical detail section through a basement and first floor window as constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 8 is a detail section through part of the building wall of a building of frame construction.

Figure 9 is a view similar to Figure 8 but showing a building with a brick outer wall.

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 8 but show.- ing a building with an outer wall of stone.

Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 8 but with both inner and outer Walls of fireproof material.

Figure 12 is a perspective view of one arrangement of baflle for directing air to the outflow openi-ngs.

Figure 13 is a perspective view of a second arrangement of such a bafile.

Figure 14 is a semi-diagrammatic view of an arrangement for controlling the flow of air into the building by humidostatic means.

In-order to afford a concrete example of the application of this invention there has been shown in the present drawings a design for a residence equipped with the invention. It is to be most clearly understood, however, that the invention is not confined to these or any other residence de-.

signs or even to residences in general since the invention may be utilized for effectively air conditioning not only residences but stores, oflice buildings, apartments, hotels, factories and in fact any type of building. Obviously, with buildings of different design the detail arrangements may differ while the general principles of the invention remain unchanged. It is therefore to be understood that the present disclosure is only one of a multitude of forms in which the invention may be embodied.

In the embodiment of the invention as herein shown thebuilding is provided with the usual foundation walls I wherein is erected the main or outside building wall which, for the purposes of this invention is a hollow wall having an outer foundation wall there are provided window open-' ings I4. In each of these openings there is fitted an outer window I and an inner window I6, these windows being spaced similarly to the walls I I and I2. The outer window I5 is fitted to ,be removable from the window opening as desired and the 4 inner window I6 may be of the ordinary hinged type. The space I! between the windows I5 and I6 opens upwardlly into the bottom of the space I3. With this construction the air from the outside of the building may be permitted to enter the lower end of the space I3 at desired points by removing or opening desired outer windows I5. Above the basement the window openings are fitted with frames I8 which span the space between the walls II and I2 and each of these window frames is provided with a vent opening I9 located inwardlly of the usual sash 20 so that air issuing from the vent will pass into the room. Preferably the vents I9 are located low down on one of the frame sides so that air issuing from the vent willflow across the lower part of the window and, if warmer than the rest of the air in the room, will rise up close to the sash so that the glass of the sash is kept warm. The advantage of this will be presently understood. One of the'walls II and I2 is constructed in such manner that it will readily absorb moisture so that during rainy weather tion reference will be had to Figure 7 in which it will be assumed that the wall II is of moisture absorbing character. Preferably the wall I2 is provided on the face next to thewall II with insulation ill and on its inner face with insulation 22 which, above the first floor 23 may be coated with plaster or other suitable material. Then, if the air within the building be deficient in moisture content and the window I5 be removed or opened, the atmospheric air will flow up through the air space, absorb moisture from the wall II and pass into the building through the opening I9. If, on the contrary, there be too much moisture in the air a portion of the moisture content will be absorbed by the wall II so that the air entering the building through the opening I9 will have its moisture content lowered.

To permit fresh air to enter the building it is of course necessary that some of the airalready in the building be allowed to escape. To this end, fiues 24 are led in from the outer walls of the building and may connect at their inner ends to vertical fiues 25 housed in the partition walls'26 or to the fiues. 21 formed in the chimneys 28.

Just below each floor of the building these fiues 25 and 2'! are provided with openings 29 so that exhaust air may enter the flues and thus be conducted upwardly to the atmosphere, above the roof of the building.

Where dormer windows are used in the design m the side walls and front wall below each window are provided with air spaces like the main outer- Y passage connecting the air space I3 of the main outer. wall with the air space 33 of the dormer wall, the wall plate 34 being provided with suitable openings for this purpose and the air following the course of the arrows in Figure 4 atthis point. It is to be noticed that the wall plates preferably cover the top of the space I3.

In order to eliminate the dust which may enter with the air, there is provided above each of the basement windows which are used to admit air to the space I3, a baffle 35 which extends horizontally across the window space.

Under certain conditions it is desirable to cause a certain portion of the air in the space I3 to flow to a particular opening or a particular set of such openings. The manner in which this is accomplished. is illustrated in Figure 5 As thereshown the space I3 is crossed by a partition 36 which extends up from the foundation III to the frame I8 of a first floor window, this partition being beneath one side of the frame. Spaced from the other side of this frame I8 is a second partition 31 which extends vertically upward from the foundation Ill-and there diagonally to terminate beneath the frame I8 of a second story window. A third partition 38 extends upward from the side of the first floor window frame I8 nearer the partition 31 and a partition 39 extends horizontally from the upper part of the partition to the second floor window frame above its opening I9. Thus a flat flue 40 leads upward from the foundation opening past the two window frames to form a restricted air path for these windows. In this case the baiiie 35 extends from.

the partition 36 and terminates short of the partition 31 so that a dead air space M is formed between the baffle 35 and the bottom of the first floor window frame I8. In order to properly deflect a portion of the air through the first floor opening I9 a baflle 42 extends from the frame I8 above the opening I9 of that frame. Where two windows are on the same level but at right angles to each other as in Figure 12 a baffle 43 may extend around the angle of the wall from one frame I8 to the other. Also a baffle 42 may be used in connection with any opening I9 as shown in Figure 13, such preferably having the end remote from the'frame I8 lower than the end at the window.

For supplying heat in cold weather an ordinary hot air furnace 44, preferably equipped with an oil burner 45, is installed in the basement. From the bottom of the air space I3 a flue 46 leads to the bottom of the furnace air space. From the top of the furnace air space or dome extendflues 41 which lead to the several wall sections of the outer building wall to communicate with the air space I3 at such selected points as will effect uni form or desired distribution of heat in such space.

[In order toinsure proper flow of air through the heater there-is provided in the flue 46 a blower 48 which is driven by a .suitable motor 49. The flue 46 is preferablyseparated from any adjacent flue 41 by apartition spanning the air space I3 so that the warm air from the flue 41 will not be drawn directly back into the flue 48.

In order to control the flow of air from the openings I9 an arrangement such as is shown at .Figure 14 may be utilized. As here shown there is provided in the window frame a hollow side frame 5| wherein the opening I9 is located. In

the opening I9 is fitted a hinged door 52 which is con'nectedby a link 53 with an adjustable Considering now some of the various types of wall construction which may be used in carrying out this invention it will be seen in Figure 8 that an all frame construction may be used. In such construction the outer wall II and inner wall I2 each have a row of scantlings 51. Both faces of the outer row are covered with insulation 58. On the outer insulation 58 is laid the sheathing 59 which is covered by clapboards, shingles or the like as at 60. On the inner face of the inner row of scantlings-51 is fixed an insulating sheet 6| on which is laid a suitable finish 62 such as plaster or the like. Between the scantlings 51 of the inner row is a filling 83 of moisture absorbing material such as brick or the like. In Figures 9 and 10 the inner wall I2 is the same as in the form shown in Figure 8 except that the filling 63 is omitted and the air space face of this row of scantlings is covered with sheet insulation 64. In Figure 9 the outer wall II is made of brick B5 and in Figure 10 this outer wall is shown as made of stone or cement blocks 66. In Figure 11 the outer wall is of fire-- proof material such as brick 61 and the inner wall is made of brick or tile 68 insulated on both sides as at 69 and having the room side suitably finished as at I0. In each of these forms the inner and outer walls are connected by ties II.

In all of the forms here shown the passage of the air through the air space I3 will effectually condition the air so that when it flows into the building the entire air content of the building will be conditioned and it will be observed that the conditioning of the air is effected by causing a thin sheet of air to travel over the surface of a large area of moisture absorbing material before it is'introduced into the building.

There has thus been provided a highly eflicient construction and method of the kind described and for the purpose specified and it is to be noted that this construction and method are not to be restricted to the particular construc vtions here described and shown but are to be fully commensurate with the appended claims.

What is claimed is:-

1. In building construction, a double outside wall including an outer wall, an inner wall composed at least in part of moisture absorptive material on the side facing said outer wall, the re-' mainder of said inner wall being impervious to moisture, said inner wall being spaced from the outer wall to provide an air circulation space between the walls, means to admit atmospheric air to the lower part of the space between said walls, means to permit air to pass from said space into the interior of the building, means to draw air from said circulation space, and

. means to heat the drawn off air and return it to wall including an outer wall, an inner wall par- 10 to permit air to pass froniisaid space into the interior of the building, windows in said wall having. frames spanning said air space, said frames being each provided on the inner side of its window with an opening communicating with said air space, and baiiies in said air space directing air to the said openings.

3. In building construction, a hollow outside allel to the outer wall and spaced to leave an air circulation space between the inner and outer walls, one of said walls including moisture absorptive material, means to admit air to the lower part of the space between said walls, means to permit air to pass from said space into the interior of the building, windows in said wall having frames spanning said air space, said frames being each provided on the inner side of its window with an opening communicating with said air space, and partitions spanning said air space to direct the air in the space along definite paths to the several openings.

4. .In a building construction, a hollow outside wall including an outer wall, an inner wall parallel to the outer wall and spaced to leave an air circulation space between the inner and outer walls, one of said walls including moisture absorptive material, means to admit air to the lower part of the space between said walls, means to permit air to pass from said space into the interior of the building, windows in said wall having frames spanning said air space, said frames being each provided on the inner side of its window with an opening communicating with said air space, baiiies in said air space directing air to the said openings, and partitions spanning said air space to direct the air in the space along definite paths to the several openings.

5. In building construction a hollow outside wall including an outer wall, aninner wall parallel tothe outer wall and spaced to leave an air circulation space between the inner and outer walls, one of said walls including moisture absorptive material on the side facing the other wall, means to draw air from the lower part of said air space, means to heat the drawn off air, means to return the heated air to said air space at selected points thereof, and bailie means in said air space positioned to prevent direct.

flow of the heated air to the point at which it is drawn from said space.

WILLIAM C. COULTON. 

